Chose

(shōz), n. [Fr. chose, Pr., Sp., & It., cosa, Pg. cousa, thing, suit, cause, from Lat. causa, cause, q. v.] (Law.) A thing; personal property.

Chose in action, a thing of which one has not possession or actual enjoyment, but only a right to it, or a right to demand it by action at law; a personal right to a thing not reduced to possession, but recoverable by suit at law; as a right to recover money due on a contract, or damages for a tort, which can not be enforced against a reluctant party without suit.—Chose in possession, a thing in possession, as distinguished from a thing in action.—Chose local, a thing annexed to a place, as a mill.—Chose transitory, a thing which is movable. — Cowell. Blount.